CALLED TO SERVE

Hello friends! :) I am currently serving as a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Nebraska Omaha Mission. I'll be emailing home every week for the 18 months that I'm in the Cornhusker state; my amazing mom will be the one posting them on this here blog. Interested in church history? Come on down to the Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters and I might just be there to give you a tour!

"As we lose ourselves in the service of others, we discover our own lives and our own happiness." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Friday, February 17, 2017

Love is in the air Febraury 13, 2017

We had an online lesson with Allie this week and it was SO GOOD! She is so prepared and it was nice to talk on the phone instead of just text. For just being 16, she has a great understanding of things we've taught her. She believes that God still calls prophets today and is going to pray about The Book of Mormon. She wants to get baptized, even if she had to wait a few years it wouldn't matter to her. She loves the scripture Moroni 10:3-5 and the concept that she can find out truth for herself!

Something our mission has been working on is asking inspired questions. Sister Firth and I gave a man named Brother Oliverson a tour and she asked him one that was so simple. It was something like "How do you apply the doctrine of Christ every day?" And he started crying! The whole objective is to help the person feel the Spirit and open up so we know how to help them.

We found the family that we weren't praying for! We've been praying to find roommates instead. #singleswardprobs It was a really cool experience though. We took Hannah along with us, and I'm so grateful we did, because she helped a ton! She just got back from her mission in December, and is so cute! This family hardly spoke any English because they were all from Nepal. We talked to their YSA age son and scheduled the appointment a few days ago when I was on exchanges, but he ended up leaving so we taught his family instead! The other son spoke the most English, so we would say something and he'd translate. The cool thing is that the Spirit is universal. One of my favorite things is to hear people pray in another language.

Exchanges was with Sister Collins this time. I adore her! This is only her second transfer but she's such a powerful teacher. We spent a lot of time street contacting downtown, and people were definitely placed in our path. So many miracles! We prayed specifically that we would be able to find and talk with someone wearing red and gray, and they just started popping up everywhere!

Another cool miracle: Sister Firth and I fasted last Friday to be able to find two new investigators this past week. Guess what? We got a referral from the Spanish elders - Jose, who doesn't really speak Spanish! We also met this kid named David at a gas station! We've had a lesson with each of them and Jose even came to church with Manny. David's lesson was really cool because he's atheist but willing to learn. He said his first prayer ever and it was so sincere. Dustin came with us and was able to relate a ton because he didn't grow up believing in God either, but he was baptized 4 years ago, and has since served and returned from a full time mission! The church is true friends. If you know someone that's struggling, or if you're struggling yourself, the gospel will help. Guaranteed. Here's a link to meet with representatives of Jesus Christ! What have you got to lose? https://www.mormon.org/missionaries